Ensenada sees cycle of change

Although Ensenada has gone upscale, tourists can still find familiar folk art for sale like these painted coconut shells. LAURA CHIARA, FOR THE REGISTER

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This sign at La Fonda restaurant, on the route of the Rosarito Ensenada bike ride, is a reminder of the region's reputation as a party palace. MARLA JO FISHER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A neon sign of a bar in Ensenada shines with a welcoming glow for visitors. KRISTA KENNELL, ZUMA PRESS

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Carnival Cruise Lines three and four day trips out of Los Angeles have made Ensenada one of the top ports of call in Mexico. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Wine bars and tasting rooms like this one have proliferated in Ensenada's tourist district, reflecting the growing sophistication of the Baja wine industry and the gentrification of this formerly rowdy port town. LAURA CHIARA, FOR THE REGISTER

Although Ensenada has gone upscale, tourists can still find familiar folk art for sale like these painted coconut shells. LAURA CHIARA, FOR THE REGISTER

Whoa. I seem to have entered some sort of parallel universe.

One in which well-dressed tourists stroll Ensenada's main drag, past sidewalk cafes, lit by wrought-iron street lamps. Where not a single drunken teenager can be spotted lurching from bar to bar.

Where even Hussong's Cantina—legendary for rough crowds, cheap tequila, spilled beer, peanut shells on the floor and the smell of bug spray—now has a genteel wine bar next door.

Wine tasting? Are you kidding me?

What on earth has happened to this rough-and-ready Baja port town known for generations as a place for tourists to party until they puke?

It's been 10 years since I've visited Ensenada, and the tourist district is nearly unrecognizable.

Last time I was here, I was knocking back tequila shooters with lime and slamming my glass on the table, along with scores of other the partiers frequenting one of the town's many bars.

This time, I'm older and more sedate. My friend, Steve Clark of Costa Mesa--who's not even vaguely sedate--brought down to experience the famous Rosarito Ensenada bike ride.

Not to ride, you understand. I'm not nearly in good enough shape.

Steve, a bike ride legend for always riding accompanied by his blow-up doll, Amelia, strapped to his bike in costume, convinced me to come down with him and his group of friends just to enjoy the town and the after-party. And I'm glad he did, even if only to experience the shock of the new, gentrified Ensenada.

The town began investing in prettifying itself the last time I was here, around 10 years ago: I still remember watching workers pour concrete and stamping it to look like brick sidewalks along the main tourist boulevard.

They also installed wrought iron lampposts and expanded the sidewalks, narrowing the street so restaurants could add outdoor cafes. And it's not just putting lipstick on a pig. The entire strip is more upscale, too.

There are still some T-shirt shops selling vulgar slogans, but they're now outnumbered by upscale jewelry shops selling hand-made silver from Taxco. Tourists with tired feet can sit on hand-carved wooden benches along the pedestrian walkways.

Town fathers prettified the place just in time for the Mexico tourist market to crash for Americans, who no longer drive in great numbers to recreate here.

A combination of factors combined to decimate the tourist climate here: New passport requirements mean that Americans can no longer come down here and cross back into the U.S. with just a drivers' license.

The aftermath of 9-ll has led to sometimes excruciating waits to cross back over the border into the U.S. The global recession has decreased travel in general. And, most importantly, Americans don't feel safe coming here anymore in the wake of drug violence near the U.S. border.

With the vast majority of its tourist base disappearing, Ensenada has found a new life as a cruise passenger destination. These days, shops magically spring to life when the giant cruise ships glide into port.

Cruise passengers are eager to spend money and have more to spend on items like handmade silver jewelry and wine from Baja's growing wine industry.

In the past, Ensenada was most lively at night, when Americans came out to play by the hundreds, packing restaurants and famous bars like Hussong's and Papas and Beer. Throbbing music advertised a place where young people could gather and drink until they could barely stagger back to their hotels.

Now, the town quiets down dramatically when the cruise ships blow their horns and depart. Cruise passengers return to the ship to sleep, and many of the shops that used to stay open until midnight shut down, their proprietors gone home to bed.

This doesn't mean you can't still party hearty in Ensenada: My friends are proof of that.

They come down twice a year to ride in the Rosarito-Ensenada fun ride—an event they manage to cram in between rounds of rowdy nightclubs and binging on fresh seafood.

But, like some of the iconic bars of Ensenada, the bike ride itself is different these days: Now, it's a mostly Mexican event.

In its earlier incarnations, this 50-mile ride along the coast and through the Baja desert between Rosarito Beach and Ensenada was a mostly gringo affair: Two-thirds of the riders were Americans who came down to have fun.

When the tourist market crashed, the bike ride did too, and it almost ended for good, until it was resurrected with the encouragement of tourism officials. Now, ironically, it's owned by a UC San Diego business professor and his partners who wanted to keep it alive, but promoted and populated mostly by Mexicans.

After the American tourists disappeared, promoters encouraged Baja bicycling enthusiasts to take their place. Now, the ride is a celebration of Mexico, with clubs from Tijuana and all over involved, along with the most die-hard American fans still along for the ride.

The ride retains its fun element, including costumed riders and a big after-party at the finish line. But, now, the route to the finish is lined with local Baja families who hoot and holler when they see their friends and family members ride into the finish.

This twice-yearly event used to sell the hotels out for many miles around. Now, since many of the riders are local, they go home at night. Still, it's enough to bring traffic to the restaurants and bars in town.

The iconic Hussong's Cantina, visited by Hemingway and scores of other famous people, has been so popular that people have the bumper stickers on their cars in Southern California.

It's still as crowded as ever—trying to get through the throngs of partiers on a Saturday night still requires patience—but now it's mostly Mexicans enjoying the sounds of a mariachi band, instead of drunken gringos doing tequila shooters with lime.

Across the street, the famed Papas & Beer nightclub is still filled with young people having fun—but now they're well-dressed Mexicans out on the town, not American students and Marines downing too many Jell-O shots before staggering out.

Some Americans dislike this, but not me. I like the idea of Mexicans enjoying a Mexican bar. If I wanted to sit in a bar full of Americans, I'd stay home. But the new, prettied-up Ensenada has lost some of its outlaw, rough-and-ready, south-of-the-border feel that was always part of its appeal. I certainly don't want to feel like I'm in Santa Barbara.

Even Hussong's—famed for 100 years for drunken debauchery—now has a website that urges you to "drink responsibly." Are you kidding me? If I wanted to drink responsibly, why would I be in Ensenada?

The new president-elect of Mexico says he plans to end the war against the narco-traffickers in Mexico. If so, border violence may settle down and Americans could feel safe driving down here again for cheap tequila and fresh seafood.

Americans who don't feel safe driving down for the race can take a roundtrip bus from San Diego, though there's always extra security for this international event. Steve's group always chooses to drive, but caravan with several other cars.

Meanwhile, I'll be glad to return for the bike ride weekend. I won't be riding any time soon—its too strenuous for me—but I'm more than willing to wait at the finish like and drink a cold cerveza with my friends.

The tourist agencies are determined to keep this ride safe and uneventful for the foreigners who come down, so I don't feel any sense of peril.

But, next time, we might just have to go out to the growing Guadalupe Valley wine region while the guys are riding and taste a little of the grape.

To learn more:

About the Rosarito-Ensenada bike ride

Founded in 1979, this twice-yearly event is not a race, but a 50-mile fun ride past spectacular ocean scenery and through the Baja desert

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